Noriega campaign reprimands staffer for call to Cornyn

Published 6:00 pm, Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Democratic Senate candidate Rick Noriega's campaign reprimanded a staff member Wednesday for requesting information from U.S. Sen. John Cornyn's office by presenting himself as a blogger and giving a false name.

Noriega, a Houston state representative, is running for the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat held by Cornyn.

Rick Cofer, who has told reporters he is working on special projects for the Noriega campaign, was revealed as a caller presenting himself as a blogger named Jay Coxlie. Cofer apparently called Cornyn's Washington office on Tuesday seeking the schedule of Cornyn's public events, the Austin American-Statesman reported online.

That call occurred after a similar call earlier in the day in which the caller cut the call short, according to Cornyn's office.

A Cornyn aide figured out Cofer's identity by the number on caller ID. Another aide Googled the number and it came back to a listing for Cofer.

Cornyn spokesman Brian Walsh reacted late Tuesday by saying: "Misrepresenting yourself doesn't strike me as being in line with Texas values. If you're going to do that, it's probably best not to call directly from your campaign office. That's just a piece of advice."

Sue Schechter, Noriega's campaign manager, said in a written statement Wednesday that the call was "an overzealous attempt by a young staffer to find out information that should be available to the public. The means by which he did so are not acceptable and not consistent with the values Rick Noriega brings to this campaign.

"The staffer has been reprimanded, and Rick takes responsibility for his actions," she said.